I lost my 5.5 year old Guinea pig the other day. He has always spent his life with my other pig, and is possibly even a father or brother to him. My remaining pig has taken his death rather hard and I don’t think he is the type of pig that could live alone. I also have a puppy and wouldn’t be able to give him the amount of attention he would need to live that way. However, I am transitioning to dog ownership and am not ready to commit to another 5-9 years of Guinea pig ownership. The little guy is also around 5.5 years old. The other pig was lost in a somewhat traumatic way, mostly because of how the vet handled the situation. I can’t stand the thought of rehoming my remaining pig. There is also apparently a crisis of Guinea pigs being abandoned where I live. I even heard a story the other day of someone abandoning a pregnant pig in a public bathroom. So even if I was comfortable rehoming him, I have significant concerns about what might happen to him if I did. I also want to spread the ashes of the two together once my remaining pig passes as their bond was so close that I want them to be together.
So, I have landed on two possible solutions, but neither feel great. The first is to foster. I am not sure if I can do this given I don’t own a car. But this is one consideration. The concern here is that Skunk will then have a revolving door of piggies coming in and out of his life, and possibly some time spent alone. It seems like he would bond and then have his partner ripped away from him over and over again which sounds awful.
The second option is to buy more piggies with the intention of rehoming them once he passes. I have a cage large enough for three so I could buy a younger pair and rehome them together while they are still relatively young as skunk is likely to only live a couple more years assuming I am lucky. I don’t love the idea of getting pigs I will end up rehoming and worry I will bond and struggle to do this when the time comes, but this is the best solution I can come up with. I also don’t love doing it with babies and taking them from the only home they have ever known. I could do this with older pigs, but then I risk Skunk getting attached again only for them to die on him and having the same problem as the beginning. Plus I couldn’t rehome them so eventually I would be left with a single pig all over again. Alternatively, I could go with a 2-3 year old pig, but then they’d also be difficult to rehome as they’d be older pigs by the time he passes.
I feel like there is no good choice here and I honestly don’t know what to do.
So, I have landed on two possible solutions, but neither feel great. The first is to foster. I am not sure if I can do this given I don’t own a car. But this is one consideration. The concern here is that Skunk will then have a revolving door of piggies coming in and out of his life, and possibly some time spent alone. It seems like he would bond and then have his partner ripped away from him over and over again which sounds awful.
The second option is to buy more piggies with the intention of rehoming them once he passes. I have a cage large enough for three so I could buy a younger pair and rehome them together while they are still relatively young as skunk is likely to only live a couple more years assuming I am lucky. I don’t love the idea of getting pigs I will end up rehoming and worry I will bond and struggle to do this when the time comes, but this is the best solution I can come up with. I also don’t love doing it with babies and taking them from the only home they have ever known. I could do this with older pigs, but then I risk Skunk getting attached again only for them to die on him and having the same problem as the beginning. Plus I couldn’t rehome them so eventually I would be left with a single pig all over again. Alternatively, I could go with a 2-3 year old pig, but then they’d also be difficult to rehome as they’d be older pigs by the time he passes.
I feel like there is no good choice here and I honestly don’t know what to do.
